Monthly Archives: October 2012

HBU had 3 matches v Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Kings Lynn but do not meet Cottenham until the next tournament at the end of November. There are 5 teams in the league and each team plays each other 4 times during the season.

HBU’s U11s made the long journey to Kings Lynn for the 2nd tournament of the season. The team was without Millie Clarke through injury and it was a first outing for Fionnbarr Parkinson-Terry and Dylan Parkinson-Wellard.

Herne Bay United’s 2nd Premier League game of the season and first home game and with the season blown wide open from the start with some major upsets in other results United wanted to show consistency.
Letchworth returned to the Premier League last season and were a sound solid team capable of causing upsets and demonstrated this last season in this fixture at United and with wins under their belts this season would be looking to continue their progression.

United started with a young side with the oldest player in the starting 5 being 22 years of age and Rodrigo Carvalho making his debut in the Premier League for United and after a initial good couple of minutes Carvalho quickly made his mark and netted with very composed finish taking his chance once Howe’s in the Letchworth net committed. United continued to look the most dominant, playing some good building passing and looking like the stronger team on the rink.
After some very close shots and possibly some missed opportunities Carvalho got his second on a quick counter attack.
United looked comfortable and Letchworth rarely making any real chances and this is when United made some unforced errors and put pressure on themselves so even when playing strongly at times came very close to conceding and letting the opposing team get back into a game that should be put out of reach. This was what happened and Letchworth got one back and with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
The first changes to the United formation were made and a very promising performance from Tom White who scored a very well built goal with 10 minutes left of the 1st half. United continued strongly and finished the half looking very much in control leaving the half-time score at 3 – 1.

Again United continued where they left off and within the first 5 minutes United were 5-1 up with a goal each from Fabio Vicente and Joe Singleton.
United again remained in control but were committing the more regular team fouls but Jay Williamson was very strong in the United net and Letchworth’s Ricky Jupp was stopped on both occasions in the second half. As the half went on with neither team scoring, United were having the majority of the opportunities, the game begun to show signs of becoming a little more scrappy but United cemented the win with Carvalho confidently finishing from the spot and getting his hatrick. David Todd added another and Neil Austin converted a penalty in the final seconds giving United a very strong score line of 8 – 1 to conclude the game.

This weekend HBU take over the Arena!
The welcome return of one of the most prestigious Artistic Competitions will be staged on Sat and Sunday.
Once the skaters pack up from Day 1 to prepare for Day 2 there will be a Premier League match between HBU v Letchworth.
The Start time will be 7.30pm (not our usual 6.15) to allow the end nets to be moved to their normal position and other necessary rearrangements to be made for the change from one skating discipline to another.

Please come and support HBU in this their 1st ‘home’ match of the season.
Price on the door for the hockey match will be the usual £2.50 and £1.50

EC U/13 Div 1 – Peterborough; Sat 6th Oct.
Herne Bay United competed in their 2nd tournament of the season, travelling to Peterborough to face three tough games.
First up was Peterborough, who are expected to challenge at the top of the table and HBUs usual slow starts saw them go one goal down when sloppy play allowed Peterborough to create multiple chances. HBU responded immediately to make the score 1-1, this pattern was repeated and the score at half time was 2-2 with George scoring both. The second half saw an improvement from HBU and a third from George saw HBU win 3-2, a deserved win on balance of play and a close game littered with errors and poor play.
The second game required a response from the team and they quickly went three up against last year’s Champions Kings Lynn with goals from Jamie and George, Kings Lynn then scored two through poor defending from HBU and a controversial refereeing decision saw Kings Lynn score and HBU go into the break 4-3 up. Kings Lynn scored twice in the second half and HBU fought back with a good team goal with Luke and Sian combining to equalise. HBU had the majority of the play and unfortunately squandered many chances and the game finished 5-5.
The last game against local rivals Herne Bay again saw the same pattern of play from the previous two games and HBU went one down, unable to break down Herne Bay’s tight defence, not surprising given the pedestrian pace of HBU play. Goals from Oli and Luke meant the score at half time was 2-1 and second half goals from Jamie, Oli and George saw HBU victors 6-1.
Coach Paul McVey commented ‘The mark of a good team is to not lose when playing badly. We finished the day with 2 wins and a draw, we did not lose and we did play badly!’
HBU still have a chance to win the league and improve on last season’s third place. However improvements will need to be seen in every area of the team performance with it fair to say that no player performed to the level they are capable.
Squad: Rhys Young(GK), (C) Jamie McVey(4), George Daly(6), Noah Latham, Luke Huckstepp(1), Oli Hudson (2), Sian Emslie(1)

As many of the players in Herne Bay United’s all-conquering roller hockey team approach the end of their careers, the club is preparing its youngsters for top competition and fielded young sides in both the Premier League and National Division 1 matches at the weekend. (more…)